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Brendon McCullum loathed the label Bazball since it was coined, deeming it reductive and perhaps anticipating how it might be used as a weapon in the future. Right now, trailing 2-0 in an Test series in Australia that started with high hopes, it has become the butt of mockery from Australia.

But McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the crushing loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the pink-ball match was akin to trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It could become his epitaph as national coach if results do not improve.

On one level, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While McCullum says he block out outside criticism, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as freewheeling and lacking preparation.

The truth, as ever, is not so simple. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they did more, logging five days compared to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "over-prepared" was that those five extra days were his call – the moment he blinked in his belief that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's fortress. And though nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a comfort zone; low-pressure work that mainly maintains the reactions quick.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (and no guarantee, as shown by England having played three before the 5-0 series loss in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of domestic red-ball cricket as a valuable experience in general, evidenced by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

On-Field Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far been found lacking. The issue is not just with the batting – harrowing as some of the decision-making has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or discipline that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his teammates have delivered.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an effective, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the torpor that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has apparently not evolved past that point – the lack of an second phase to the initial philosophy that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Squad Spotlight and Team Dilemmas

One such player is Jamie Smith, a gifted player, no question, but one who is being mercilessly targeted on both edges and missed two key chances as wicketkeeper. It probably does not help when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a masterful performance.

Going by the coach's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting triggers his best, with Perth's trampoline surface and the unusual day-night format now out of the way.

The alternative is to implement the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand 12 months ago by moving the batsman down to his more natural home as a busy middle order player, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and selecting a new No 3. Bethell scored runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe an all-rounder could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

In the end, none of this is perfect, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.